Tickmill review: the quiet low-cost Raw account with tier-one regulation
Tickmill's Raw account promises spreads from 0.0 pips, $3 a lot per side and FCA and CySEC oversight, all from $100. We checked the account page, the licences and independent cost tests to find the catch.
8.2/10
Tickmill's Raw account is among the cheapest ways to trade forex under a serious regulator. Spreads start at 0.0 pips, the commission is $3 per lot per side, and the minimum deposit is $100. Licences from the FCA and CySEC cover most European clients, while the 1:1000 leverage figure belongs to a lighter offshore entity. Research and education are thin, and there is no US access, so it suits self-directed traders who already know what they want.
Best for
Cost-conscious forex traders who want FCA or CySEC regulation and MT4, MT5 or TradingView
62 currency pairs plus stocks, indices, oil, metals, bonds, crypto
Base currencies
USD, EUR, GBP, ZAR
The broker nobody argues about
Tickmill rarely wins headlines. It does not sponsor football clubs or promise a bonus, and that is part of why it keeps turning up in lists of the cheapest raw-spread accounts. The question this review asks is simple: is the quiet option actually the better buy, or just the less noisy one?
Short answer: on cost and regulation together, it is one of the stronger choices in its category. The catch is what it leaves out.
What the Raw account charges
The Raw account opens with $100. Spreads start from 0.0 pips, and a commission of $3 per lot per side applies to forex and precious metals, so a round trip on one standard lot costs $6 in commission. One independent test puts the average EUR/USD spread near 0.10 pips, which makes an all-in cost of about 0.7 pips once commission is counted.
tickmill.com
The Raw account page: the headline account for traders who want spreads from 0.0 pips.
That sits in the same band as Pepperstone Razor and IC Markets on quiet EUR/USD, so do not expect it to undercut them by a wide margin. Its edge is combining that cost with an FCA and CySEC licence rather than a lighter one. Lower the cost ceiling further and you usually give up regulation.
The account page also lists 62 currency pairs, plus stocks, indices, oil, metals, bonds and crypto, and stop and limit orders that can sit at zero distance from the market.
Reading the spreads page properly
Tickmill publishes a spreads and swaps page with a table for each account type. Read the swap column, not just the spread: overnight financing adds up for anyone holding positions for days, and it is where the low-cost story sometimes weakens.
tickmill.com
The spreads and swaps page shows the cost tables that back the headline Raw account figures.
Published spreads are typical values, not promises. They widen around news and rollover, at every broker. If your strategy trades those moments, test on a demo and compare with a second broker at the same minute.
Regulation, and the leverage footnote
Tickmill lists licences from the FCA in the UK, CySEC in Cyprus, the FSCA in South Africa and the FSA in Seychelles, plus a DFSA representative office in Dubai. Which one applies to you depends on where you live.
tickmill.com
The licences and regulation page identifies which Tickmill entity serves which region.
This matters for leverage. The eye-catching 1:1000 figure belongs to the Seychelles entity. UK and EU clients face the regulators' retail caps, which are far lower, along with the protections that come with them. That is a feature, not a flaw, but do not sign up on the strength of a leverage number you cannot use.
Platforms and the missing extras
MetaTrader 4 and 5 are both supported, as is TradingView, the Tickmill Trader web platform and a mobile app. That covers almost every style, including automated systems.
What Tickmill lacks is depth around the trade. Research, market commentary and education are lighter than at larger brokers such as IG or Saxo. If you are learning, you will need other sources. If you already have a routine, that gap costs you nothing.
The arithmetic of a month
Suppose you trade 40 standard lots of EUR/USD in a month. Commission alone is 40 lots times $6, so $240. Add a 0.1 pip average spread, worth about $1 per lot, and the spread adds roughly $40 more. The bill is near $280, or $7 a lot. The same 40 lots at a fixed 0.9 pip spread would cost about $360 in spread alone. The gap grows with volume, which is exactly why raw accounts belong to active traders and fixed-spread accounts to occasional ones. Run your own numbers with your own lot size before you decide, and remember that swaps and slippage sit outside this sum.
Who it is for
Choose Tickmill if you place many trades, care about the raw cost and want a regulator you can name. Look elsewhere if you are a US resident, want a broad research suite, or need a large stock universe. Copy trading and social features are not the point either.
Verdict
Tickmill's Raw account earns 8.2. It is not the single cheapest spread on the market, but it pairs tight pricing with real oversight and a small entry ticket. Keep in mind that leveraged trading risks more than your deposit can cover in bad moments, and that this review is general information, not advice.
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